BHC BACK IN TIME: Recalling Abingdon's McCall

He was the quarterback of an Abingdon High School football team that reached the regional finals.

He started and racked up more than 1,000 career points for the school’s basketball team.

However, those accomplishments paled in comparison to Trey McCall’s exploits as a member of the Falcons’ baseball squad.

He boasted a batting average that hovered well above .500 as a senior, racked up almost every individual accolade possible and was a first-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Phillies.

His prodigious home runs are stuff of legend, especially one in particular.

It was during McCall’s junior season – April 25, 1984 to be exact – and occurred at Bristol’s DeVault Stadium. The Falcons were locked in an intense game with Virginia High, a common theme when the two rivals hooked up.

In the top of the fourth inning, McCall stepped in the batter’s box to face VHS ace pitcher Greg Turner. He proceeded to crush a pitch that sailed over the 400-foot sign in dead-center field. It kept carrying, clearing the pine trees that stood tall outside the fence.

John Kuczko, Abingdon’s coach at the time, remembers the moment fondly.

“It was a shot,” Kuczko said. “As soon as it hit his bat, the whole ballpark just went ‘Ah’ and it just disappeared above the lights. It was mammoth. It had to be 450, 500 feet for sure.”

Abingdon won 5-1 and the homer was not soon forgotten. Every homer hit since that time at DeVault – the home of Virginia High as well as the rookie-league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox – has failed to reach the same status as McCall’s dinger.

These days, McCall just smiles and lets out a laugh when recalling the tape-measure shot that has found a home in local lore.

“It’s grown with the pine trees,” McCall said. “I hit it good, but at the same time, you’re talking about 25 years of tree growth and it makes it look a lot better.”

It’s the sort of answer one would expect from McCall, a humble hero. After much prodding, he admitted that he did make good contact.

“The Virginia High game was always big,” McCall said. “I can’t describe it any other way. It’s just one of those moments you have in sports, where you don’t even feel what you’re doing. … I wish you could feel that way all the time. It just more happened than anything.”

Happenstance was rarely part of the McCall success story. He was a driven, hard-working and genuinely good guy that achieved remarkable feats.

Flying high as a Falcon

As Kuczko arrived home after his first day on the job as Abingdon’s baseball coach in the spring of 1982, he discussed with his wife what he had witnessed while working with many kids that he hadn’t met before the opening practice that afternoon.

“I told her I didn’t know if we had anything else,” Kuczko recalled. “But I know we had a catcher.”

The kid was McCall and he would become one of the best athletes to ever walk the halls of the Washington County school located just off Interstate-81.

He was the big man on campus – both literally and figuratively – having grown to be 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds by the time he received his diploma.

But things weren’t always easy. McCall’s mother died when he was a freshman, while his father later survived a health scare during his prep career.

McCall persevered and continued to excel.

“Just reflecting back, I have a deep regard for my high school coaches who really made an impact on my life at a difficult time,” McCall said. “I am very fortunate to have gone through Abingdon when I did. We won a lot and had some success with a lot of great athletes.”

McCall had the same impact on his coaches. He was the winner of the Bristol Herald Courier’s Gene “Pappy” Thompson Award as a senior, given annually to the area’s most well-rounded student-athlete.

“If you coach high school sports, you have your share of headaches,” Kuczko said. “When you get to coach somebody like Trey that has the special talent and ability and the type of person he was, it makes all those headaches worthwhile. If you could just coach one of those guys during your career, you should feel very fortunate.”

Plus, he could flat out play.

Along with teammate Jeff Necessary and other talented teammates, McCall helped Abingdon’s 1984 team reach the finals of the VHSL Group AA tournament before suffering a tough loss.

His senior year he tortured opposing pitchers and emerged as one of the nation’s top high school catchers. Only four baserunners attempted to steal on him during his senior season and of those, only one of them succeeded.

It was those skills that convinced Philadelphia to draft him with the 16th overall selection in the ’85 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, ahead of future stars like Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and Rafael Palmeiro.

“On that [draft] day, I was actually playing golf,” McCall said. “I knew I was going to get drafted, but I didn’t think I was going in the first round. When that happened, I was totally surprised and shocked.”

Baseball lifer

McCall would play in 309 career minor league games, compiling a .202 career batting average, 15 home runs and 99 RBIs over the course of six seasons.

He never reached the big leagues, but still enjoyed his time in the minor leagues.

“It is bittersweet, but I tell ya, it’s everything you dream of,” McCall said. “Even if you are getting paid nothing and living with a bunch of people so you can pay the rent, it’s playing baseball every day.

“Baseball’s got such a worldly flavor to it. You’re around so many different types of people from different plays. To be on a team with all those people, it’s like a family. It’s a great experience.”

After his playing days ended, McCall wasn’t ready to give up on his favorite sport. He went back to college and got a teaching degree.

He spent seven seasons guiding Abingdon’s baseball program and then took over the program at Emory & Henry College.

He just completed his fifth season at the NCAA Division III school.

“You’ve got to do what you love and I still love every minute of being out on that field with them and teaching the game and all that,” McCall said.

The enthusiasm for baseball is still evident. Just like it did when he smashed that legendary home run more than two decades ago.

“It’s just something that’s been in my blood since I was a kid,” McCall said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else, honestly.”

thayes@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Hayes_BHCSports | (276) 645-2570